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A History of ThermodynamicsEntropy as S = k ln W

A History of Thermodynamics: Entropy as S = k ln W [Greek and Roman philosophers had conceived of atoms, and they developed the idea in more detail than we are usually led to believe. In the thinking of Leukippus and Demokritus in the 5th and 4th century B.C., the atoms of air move in all directions, and only occasionally they change their paths when they hit each other. To the ancients this fairly modern view implied a kind of determinism, which was incompatible with the idea of God, or gods, playing out their pranks, benevolent or otherwise. Therefore in later times, in the hands of Epicurus (341–270 B.C.) and Lucretius (95–55 B.C.), the atomistic philosophy of the “Natura Rerum” - this is the title of Lucretius’s long poem - adopted an anti-religious and even atheistic flavour, which rendered it politically and socially unacceptable. Therefore atomism faded away, and in the end it came to represent no more than a footnote in ancient philosophy.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A History of ThermodynamicsEntropy as S = k ln W

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Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Copyright
© Springer 2007
ISBN
978-3-540-46226-2
Pages
79 –126
DOI
10.1007/978-3-540-46227-9_4
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[Greek and Roman philosophers had conceived of atoms, and they developed the idea in more detail than we are usually led to believe. In the thinking of Leukippus and Demokritus in the 5th and 4th century B.C., the atoms of air move in all directions, and only occasionally they change their paths when they hit each other. To the ancients this fairly modern view implied a kind of determinism, which was incompatible with the idea of God, or gods, playing out their pranks, benevolent or otherwise. Therefore in later times, in the hands of Epicurus (341–270 B.C.) and Lucretius (95–55 B.C.), the atomistic philosophy of the “Natura Rerum” - this is the title of Lucretius’s long poem - adopted an anti-religious and even atheistic flavour, which rendered it politically and socially unacceptable. Therefore atomism faded away, and in the end it came to represent no more than a footnote in ancient philosophy.]

Published: Jan 1, 2007

Keywords: Partition Function; Kinetic Theory; Entropic Force; Thermal Equation; Rubber Molecule

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